Within the international intelligence community, India™s spies and spooks don™t enjoy a good reputation. Over the past 46 years, since it was established in 1968, the country™s external intelligence gathering and operations agency innocuously named Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) has acquired a dubious reputation for nepotism, corruption and massive inflation of expenditure by its agents thinly spread around the world. Among the numerous charges levelled against the country™s premier foreign intelligence agency, which reportedly has a top secret annual budget (estimated at Rs.180-900 crore), are that it is unaccountable (its chief reports to the PMO), several agents defect and disappear routinely, with some naively susceptible to ˜honey traps™ and blackmail. Occasionally however, a minority of focused and dedicated among RAW agents pull off great coups. According to widely circulated post-mortem reports in the Sri Lanka media, RAW™s Colombo station chief, K. Ilango played a decisive role in the surprise defeat of two-term president Mahinda Rajapaksa in the recently held election. Ilango not only persuaded Maithripala Sirisena to defect from Rajapaksa™s cabinet and contest the presidential poll, but got backing for Sirisena from former president Chandrika Kumaratunga, and convinced former (and incumbent) prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe to stand down in favour of Sirisena, who he rightly predicted had a better chance of defeating Rajapaksa. In December, Rajapaksa learned about the agent™s machinations and expelled him from the island republic. But the discovery came too late. For New Delhi as well as for the people of Sri Lanka, the election of pro-India Sirisena is a just-in-time relief because Rajapaksa was flirting dangerously with China, while packing every public office with his kith and kin. Like overpaid members of the Indian cricket team, once in a while RAW agents come good spectacularly. Ominous portents The just concluded three-day India visit of US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, revealed prime minister Narendra Modi, who routed the Congress-led UPA in the general election of last summer, has transformed into a dandy. From the saffron shawl he wore to receive the Obamas at the airport to the dove grey fitted jacket he donned for the state banquet at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the once austere RSS pracharak has assembled a wardrobe which outshone Michelle Obama™s designer wear. However a bespoke ensemble the prime minister sported to a tea meeting with Obama in Hyderabad House, which set the twitter world ablaze was a bandgala suit with ˜Narendra Damodardas Modi™ not-so-subtly monogrammed in the style of pinstripes. This personalised suit material aroused vigorous comment with some twitterati labelling Modi a narcissist. Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha tweeted: œIf it is true that Modi™s suit has his name embroidered, it is a first, and shockingly narcissistic, the self-proclaimed master of hype. According to some psychologists and behavioural scientists, the PM™s self-aggrandising sartorial style is reflective of his politics. œDuring the General Election 2014 campaign and earlier in Gujarat, Modi crushed all opponents within the BJP, transforming the election campaign into a one-man show. Since taking oath as prime…
